Tag Archives: PCB ASSEMBLY SERVICE

PCB Fabrication and Assembly

Understanding the PCB Manufacturing Process: From Design to Production

PCB Fabrication near mePrinted Circuit Boards (PCBs) are the backbone of modern electronics, found in everything from smartphones to medical devices.

At Board Assembly, we pride ourselves on our comprehensive PCB manufacturing process, which ensures top-quality products for a wide range of industries. In this blog, we’ll walk you through the PCB manufacturing process, from initial design to the final product.

1. Design and Layout

The PCB manufacturing journey begins with the design phase. Engineers use specialized software to create a detailed layout of the circuit. This design includes the placement of components, electrical connections, and layer configuration. Ensuring a robust design is crucial as it sets the foundation for the entire manufacturing process.

Key Steps in Design:

  • Schematic Capture: Creating a schematic diagram to represent the circuit.
  • Layout Design: Using CAD software to design the PCB layout.
  • Design Rule Check (DRC): Ensuring the design meets manufacturing specifications.

For more details on our design capabilities, visit our PCB Design Services.

2. Prototyping

Once the design is finalized, a prototype is created. Prototyping is essential to test the design for functionality and performance before mass production. At Board Assembly, we utilize advanced prototyping techniques to ensure quick and accurate results.

Prototyping Steps:

  • Material Selection: Choosing the appropriate materials for the PCB.
  • Initial Fabrication: Creating a small batch of PCBs for testing.
  • Testing and Validation: Conducting thorough tests to verify the design.

Explore our Prototyping Services to learn how we can assist in bringing your designs to life.

3. Material Procurement

The next phase involves procuring the necessary materials. This includes the substrate, copper cladding, and various components like resistors, capacitors, and ICs. Quality materials are vital for the reliability and longevity of the PCB.

Considerations in Material Procurement:

  • Component Quality: Sourcing high-quality components from reputable suppliers.
  • Supply Chain Management: Ensuring timely delivery of materials.
  • Cost Management: Balancing quality with cost-effectiveness.

Find out more about our Material Procurement Process.

4. PCB Fabrication

PCB fabrication is where the actual manufacturing begins. This process involves several steps to transform the design into a physical PCB.

Fabrication Steps:

  • Etching: Removing excess copper to create the circuit pattern.
  • Lamination: Stacking and bonding multiple layers of the PCB.
  • Drilling: Creating holes for component leads and vias.
  • Plating: Adding a layer of conductive material to the drilled holes.

Learn about our PCB Fabrication Techniques for a detailed overview.

5. Assembly

After fabrication, the PCB moves to the assembly phase. This is where components are placed and soldered onto the board.

Assembly Methods:

Discover our PCB Assembly Services to see how we ensure precision and reliability.

6. Testing and Quality Control

Quality control is a critical step to ensure the final product meets all specifications and performance criteria. At Board Assembly, we perform rigorous testing and inspection.

Testing Techniques:

  • Automated Optical Inspection (AOI): Using cameras to inspect the PCB.
  • X-Ray Inspection: Checking for hidden defects.
  • Functional Testing: Ensuring the PCB performs as intended.

Visit our Quality Control Process page to learn more about our commitment to excellence.

7. Final Product and Delivery

Once the PCBs pass all tests, they are ready for delivery. We ensure that each board is packaged securely and delivered on time to our clients.

Delivery Considerations:

Learn more about our Delivery and Support Services.

The PCB manufacturing process is complex and requires meticulous attention to detail at every stage. At Board Assembly, we are dedicated to delivering high-quality PCBs that meet your specific requirements. Whether you need design assistance, prototyping, or full-scale production, we have the expertise and technology to bring your projects to life.

For more information on our services, contact us and let us help you with your next PCB project.

Printed Circuit Board Fabrication

Reworking Your Defective PCBs?

Did You Know That We Can Also Rework Your Defective PCBs?

When you put in a large order for printed circuit boards from a PCB assembly service provider, you may find that a few circuit boards are defective in each bunch. Rather than write these circuit boards off as a loss (and lose your investment), you may be able to give them new life.

At ACME PCB Assembly, we may be able to re-work and repair some defective printed circuit boards. Often, this requires de-soldering and re-soldering components. This is manual work that must be performed by a trained technician. Fortunately, we have highly qualified staff members who can perform these repairs for you. This way, you don’t have to write off so many PCBs and can re-coup at least some of your costs.

PCB repair and rework services are an essential a process as manufacturing. Ensuring that any design flaw or damaged PCB component is repaired immediately will help maintain the PCB’s performance. In addition to these services, we conduct functional tests on your PCBs after the repair work is completed. This is performed to ensure that the device is running as per application and industry requirements.

We closely match new incoming inquiries to board house equipment and capabilities, ensuring you receive only those inquiries that you are interested in Acme Circuit board assembly provide PCB fabrication service in the development and manufacturing of quality single, double sided and Multi-Layers printed circuit boards for the computer, medical, transportation, communication, aircraft, aerospace and related industries.

At ACME PCB Assembly, we take full responsibility for your printed circuit board order. This means we that we use only ACME PCB Assembly certified suppliers as our offshore partners.

Want to see what we can do? Contact us today to learn more about our PCB repair and modification services.

ACME PCB Assembly ready for RoHS 2

ACME PCB Assembly provides RoHS 2 PCB and PCBA service

The RoHS 2 Directive 2011/65/EU must be transposed into national laws by 2nd January 2013.

ACME PCB Assembly ready for RoHS 2

ACME PCB Assembly ready for RoHS 2

Directive 2011/65/EU entered into force on 21st 2011 and requires the Member States to transpose the provisions into their respective national law by 2nd January 2013. The RoHS 2 Directive is part of the European Union’s horizontal waste management legislation.

The RoHS 2 Directive is part of the European Union’s horizontal waste management legislation. As we know, the RoHS 1 Directive is for 2002/95/EC. On the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electronic and electrical equipment (EEE). The Directive 2011/65/EU is reffed to as RoHS 2.

RoHS and REACH are two different acts with different scopes and objectives. When overlaps occur, the strongest restriction should be applied.

ACME PCB Assembly provides RoHS 2 Directive assembly service in Carson, California. and Our PCB Suppliers to ACME PCB Assembly conform with RoHS 2 Directive.

How do you know if RoHS 2 applies to your products? if your product not EEE, or out of scope, provisions of RoHS 2 don’t apply, you don’t need to worry about it. By the way, automated integrated circuit board and printed circuit board (bare board) testers, CNC lathes, bridge-type milling and drilling machines, metal forming presses, they all benefit from an exclusion. The list below is the EU RoHS 2 Directive Exemptions to RoHS 2

A total of 16 new exemptions, primarily for specific medical devices applications have been added to the EU RoHS 2 Directive 2011/65/EU.

  • 2014/1/EU Exemption for lead as an alloying element for bearings and wear surfaces in medical equipment exposed to ionizing radiation
  • 2014/2/EU Exemption for cadmium in phosphor coatings in image intensifiers for X-ray images until 31 December 2019 and in spare parts for X-ray systems placed on the EU market before 1 January 2020
  • 2014/3/EU Exemption for lead acetate marker for use in stereotactic head frames for use with Computed Tomography and MRI and in positioning systems for gamma beam and particle therapy equipment
  • 2014/4/EU Exemption for lead enabling vacuum-tight connections between aluminum and steel in X-ray image intensifiers
  • 2014/5/EU Exemption for lead in solders on printed circuit boards, termination coatings of electrical and electronic components and coatings of printed circuit boards, solders for connecting wires and cables, solders connecting transducers and sensors that are used durably at a temperature below – 20 °C under normal operating and storage conditions
  • 2014/6/EU Exemption for lead in the surface coatings of pin connector systems requiring non-magnetic connectors which are used durably at a temperature below – 20 °C under normal operating and storage conditions
  • 2014/7/EU Exemption for lead in solders, termination coatings of electrical and electronic components and printed circuit boards, connections of electrical wires, shields and enclosed connectors which are used (a) in magnetic fields within the sphere of 1 m radius around the isocentre of the magnet in medical magnetic resonance imaging equipment, including patient monitors designed to be used within this sphere, or (b) in magnetic fields within 1 m distance from the external surfaces of cyclotron magnets, magnets for beam transport and beam direction control applied for particle therapy
  • 2014/8/EU Exemption for lead in solders for mounting cadmium tellurium and cadmium zinc tellurium digital array detectors to printed circuit boards
  • 2014/9/EU Exemption for lead and cadmium in metallic bonds creating superconducting magnetic circuits in MRI, SQUID, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance or Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometer detectors
  • 2014/10/EU Exemption for lead in alloys, as a superconductor or thermal conductor, in medical devices (category 8) and/or in industrial monitoring and control instruments
  • 2014/11/EU Exemption for hexavalent chromium in alkali dispensers used to create photocathodes in X-ray image intensifiers until 31 December 2019 and in spare parts for X-ray systems placed on the EU market before 1 January 2020
  • 2014/12/EU Exemption for lead in solders on printed circuit boards of detectors and data acquisition units for Positron Emission Tomographs which are integrated into Magnetic Resonance Imaging equipment
  • 2014/13/EU Exemption for lead in solders on populated printed circuit boards used in Directive 93/42/EEC class IIa and IIb mobile medical devices other than portable emergency defibrillators
  • 2014/14/EU Exemption for 3,5 mg mercury per lamp in single capped compact fluorescent lamps for general lighting purposes < 30 W with a lifetime equal to or above 20000 h
  • 2014/15/EU Exemption for lead, cadmium and chromium in reused spare parts, recovered from medical devices placed on the market before 22 July 2014 and used in category 8 equipment placed on the market before 22 July 2021, provided that reuse takes place in audible closed loop business-to-business return systems, and that the reuse of parts is notified to the consumer
  • 2014/16/EU Exemption for lead as an activator in the fluorescent powder of discharge lamps when used for extracorporeal photopheresis lamps containing BSP phosphors